Abubakar Malami, attorney-general of the federation (AGF),
says the execution of 13,777 projects in the Niger Delta were compromised.
The minister said this on Thursday, while receiving the
report on the forensic audit of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC),
on behalf of President Muhammadu Buhari.
President Buhari had, in 2019, ordered a forensic audit of
the NDDC’s operations from 2001 to 2019.
Kemebradikumo Pondei, the then-acting managing director of
the commission, was sacked over allegations of mismanagement of funds, and in
December 2020, the president appointed Effiong Akwa as the new head of the
agency.
In his speech, Malami also noted that 362 accounts belonging
to the NDDC were not properly reconciled.
“The federal government is particularly concerned with the
colossal loss occasioned by uncompleted and unverified development projects in
the Niger Delta Region, in spite of the huge resources made available to uplift
the living standard of the citizens,” he said.
“We have on record over 13,777 projects, the execution of which is substantially compromised. The federal government is also concerned with the multitudes of Niger Delta Development Commission’s bank accounts amounting to 362 and the lack of proper reconciliation of accounts.
“The federal government will, in consequence, apply the law
to remedy the deficiencies outlined in the audit report as appropriate.
“This will include, but not limited to, initiation of
criminal investigations, prosecution, recovery of funds not properly utilised
for the public purposes for which they were meant for, review of the laws to
reposition and restructure the NDDC for the efficiency of better service
delivery, amongst others.
“In all these instances of actions, legal due processes will
strictly be complied with.”
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